Heavens Fall
by KJtheELMtree
Summary: Round-robin I'm doing with wombat-of-awesomeness. Sky, Nicky, and Zach have no clue that they're about to be plunged into their biggest dream... and worst nightmare. one of those we-find-out-we're-demigods stories.
1. Eyes Open

**Ello, this is the second fic from the severely awesome KJtheELMtree, aka Beth M! I'm writing this with my friend wombat-of-awesomeness. Skyler- Sky- is my character; Nicky, short for Nicole, is hers. Peace out. **

**-Beth M**

Sky leaned back in her chair, sighing. Mrs. Sanders droned on and on about plate tectonics as related to density, her voice like a white-noise machine. Normally Skyler would have found this topic interesting, but with _Sanders…_ Why did she even bother staying awake?

She glanced around the room. Three rows away and two seats up, her friend Nicky looked over her shoulder and mouthed, _Why? Why must we suffer so?_

Sky stifled a laugh.

Aside from her and Nicky, the only other kid who seemed actually honest-to-goodness awake and not just pretending was Kaiden, a boy who had just transferred to Mark Morris a few weeks before. He yawned, shifted his crutches, and shot a glance at Sky, rolling his eyes. Looked like he found this class just as boring as everyone else did.

Sky suddenly flashed a grin at Nicky, along with her best evil-laugh expression. _Guess what I've got! _She rummaged in her bag and pulled it out of the plastic bag Ms. Jorgens insisted on with its "please return in this bag" sticker and already-crumpled edges. Wordlessly, she held it up so Nicky could see.

Nicky's eyes went wide and she tore a page out of her notebook, hunched over it and scribbled. A second later, the note landed on Sky's desk.

She unfolded it and read, _What? You got Mark of Athena before me? I hate you!_ Sky wrote back, _No you don't. Come over to my house after. _She tossed it back. Nik read it once, twice, and nodded. Her reply was, _How about we make it a post-MoA party? _

Sky wrote, _Sure. _On an impulse, she tossed a new note over to Kaiden, asking if he was a PJO fan too. He said he was, and Sky invited him over.

Kaiden's eyes went wide and he got this huge grin as he replied, _YES!_

Sky checked in with Nicky. _Kaiden wants to come too. That okay w/ you?_

Nicky: _yeah, but what about Hunter? How's he going to react? Checking with Zach right now, see if he wants to…_

Nicky pulled out her phone and started texting. If anyone else did that, they'd get caught for sure, but somehow Nicky got away with _everything. _

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

The bell ending sixth period rang and Sky ran out the door, pulling out her iPod without missing a step. She stuffed the right earbud in, remembering in time that the left was broken, and cranked up the volume.

_Everybody's waiting… everybody's watching… even when you're sleeping… keep your ey-eyes, open!_

She grinned. The day before, she had listened to this song over and over in preparation for Mark of Athena. It had just seemed perfect.

_The tricky thing _

_Is yesterday we were just children _

_Playing soldiers just pretending _

_Dreaming dreams with happy endings… _

Kaiden joined her and Nicky waiting for their bus.

_In backyards _

_Winning battles with our wooden swords _

_But now we've stepped into a cruel world _

_Where everybody stands to keep score _

_Keep your eyes open _

Her, Kaiden, and Nicky all squeezed into one seat. The bus was soon crowded with over-hyper middle and high schoolers yelling at the top of their lungs and Sky's iPod became impossible to hear. She turned it off, but not before the chorus.

_Everybody's waiting for you to break down _

_Everybody's watching to see the fallout _

_Even when you're sleeping, sleeping _

_Keep your eyes open_

_Keep your eyes open _

_Keep your eyes open_

Several stops later was hers. The three of them piled out and ran down the street to Sky's house and back to all her problems.

_So here you are _

_Two steps ahead and staying on guard _

_Every lessons forms a new scar _

_They never thought you'd make it this far…_

Kaiden tripped over his crutches and the girls laughed… _After _they helped him up.

_But turn around _

_Oh they've surrounded you it's _

_A showdown _

_And nobody comes to save you now _

_But you got something they don't _

_Yeah you got something they don't _

_You just gotta keep your eyes open _

"Wouldn't it be great if we were demigods?" Nicky asked. "Who do you think your parent would be, Kaiden?"

Kaiden shrugged. "I don't know. I've never really thought about it."

That struck Sky as a little suspicious for a PJO fan, but Nicky either didn't notice or didn't think much of it. "I think mine would be Apollo, since I love music so much. Or maybe Athena- I read a lot. Sky and I both do."

_Everybody's waiting for you to break down _

_Everybody's watching to see the fallout _

_Even when you're sleeping, sleeping _

_Keep your eyes open _

_Keep your eyes open _

_Keep your eyes…_

"But I think we know who Sky's would be, after the egg incident. Remember that, Sky?"

Sky laughed ruefully. "Egg incident?" Kaiden asked.

"Okay, so a few weeks ago, I was making eggs for dinner. They were done cooking and I was carrying a pot full of scalding hot water over to the sink and it spilled."

Kaiden winced in sympathy.

"I felt it splash onto both my shirt and my feet, and I could feel the heat, but it didn't hurt. At all. I've got a high tolerance for heat, but even this surprised me. Anyway, I dried off and kept checking off and on for the next few hours, but there weren't any burn marks or even redness. So it's become a bit of a joke between Nicky and me."

Kaiden raised his eyebrows and then froze. "Be quiet, I think I just heard something. Sky, that includes turning your iPod off."

Sky did.

_Keep your feet ready _

Sky, Nicky, and Kaiden looked around wildly, trying to figure out what was happening.

_Heartbeat steady _

The three of them were starting to relax, thinking it was a false alarm, when they heard another crash.

_Keep your eyes open _

Kaiden pulled a knife out of his belt. Sky grabbed a hammer from her coat pocket. Nicky dashed across the street and returned with the golf club that had been lying in the gutter for a week.

_Keep your aim locked _

A scream.

_The night goes dark _

Kaiden broke away from their group and disappeared into the woods, beckoning for them to follow.

_Keep your eyes open _

They found a girl pinned under a fallen tree. "Lou Ellen!" Kaiden cried.

Lou Ellen tried to lift the tree. "Kaiden!" she yelled. "Can you help me out here?"

_Keep your eyes open _

Nicky and Sky exchanged glances. _Lou Ellen? _They bent down and helped Kaiden out. He was surprisingly strong and they had the gril free in less than a minute.

_Keep your eyes open _

Lou Ellen sat up and looked at him. "Are these them?"

"Half of them."

She nodded.

_Keep your eyes open _

Another crash came.

_Keep your eyes open _

Wordlessly, Sky turned and led them home.

_Everybody's waiting for you to break down _

_Everybody's watching to see the fallout _

_Even when you're sleeping, sleeping _

_Keep your eyes open _

_Keep your eyes open _

_Keep your eyes open _

_Keep your eyes open _

_Keep your eyes open…_

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

Zach burst through the front door half an hour later. "I hear there's a party going on!" he yelled over the music blasting from YouTube.

Sky appeared from the kitchen. "There most certainly is!" Looking at him, she felt her heart clench. That round face, his open heart… He was innocent, in a generation where innocence was lost at a young age. She'd promised herself she would keep him safe. She was going to keep that promise.

Just then, the windows broke.

**A/N: Ooh, left you hanging there! Hope is going to hate me for this… **

**Disclaimer: I no own! I do not own the severely awesome Percy Jackson series by the equally awesome Rick Riordan, nor do I own the song "Eyes Open" by Taylor Swift. **

**R&R or you shall face Mutant Darkling Psychokitty's wrath!**


	2. Beginnings and Revelations

**Enjoy chapter two!**

**-WOA**

"Stay down!" shouted Kaiden, his voice surprisingly authoritative for his gangly form.

"What the f-" Sky shot Nicky a dirty look, "I mean what the _Hades_ is going on!"

Zach stood up quickly, his voice taking on an odd bravado. "Don't worry girls, I'll-I'll protect you!" His voiced cracked in the middle of the sentence.

"Oh for Zeus' sake, sit down!" whispered Sky angrily, pulling Zach down. "Just stay down like Kaiden said!"

"Oh joy, a hellhound," muttered Kaiden, swiping his hair out of his eyes.

"Wait, they're real?" Nicky jumped up and started chanting, "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

"Nicky," said Sky tersely through her teeth, "not that I'm not excited, but I'm not sure you're getting it. There is a hellhound in the room. A hellhound, who probably wants to kill us."

"Oh, oh yeah, that's an issue," stated Nicky softly, sitting back down.

Meanwhile, Kaiden had gotten out a long bronze knife- or wait, was it a baseball bat? Whatever it was, he was using it to attempt to stab the monstrous, obsidian beast in front of him.

"I," he wheezed between gasping breaths, "am not cut out for combat!" He swiftly turned to face Zach, who was watching behind a table leg. "How about you, kid? Are you any good with a knife?"

"No idea!" laughed Zach, standing up to grab the weapon from the other boy's hand. "Let's find out!"

It was around this point that Nicky decided to distract herself by watching Sky chew out Kaiden.

"What were you thinking? He's eleven!" snapped Sky, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Well, he was the only guy here, and-" It was Nicky's turn to be upset. "Oh, so you think girls can't handle knives? You, my friend, have a lot to learn!"

After several moments of watching Zach fight through her fingers, Nicky stood up. "No sense in making him do all the work!" she proclaimed, wiping a frizzy tendril of hair out of her face.

Sky hesitated, before joining her friend in the battle. As it turned out, Zach really was fine; he had managed to vanish the hellhound within seconds of the girls joining the fight.

Grinning, he dusted the powder off of his jeans, and turned towards the other teenaged boy. "So that was fun, right? We don't have to deal with that thing anymore!"

"Well, we don't," proclaimed Kaiden hesitantly, "but there's a reason I wasn't trying to kill it. Come on, I'll explain on the way."

As Nicky walked over to her house to go get her things, her mind was racing. So it was real, all of it? No wonder she felt such a strong pull towards those books.

There was another thing too, a reason that Kaiden hadn't wanted to kill the hellhound. In all of the other books, hadn't the demigods seemed perfectly alright with killing monsters? Maybe something big happened in Mark of Athena; she had to get her hands on that book.

That was right- those books were real, weren't they? Maybe she could meet Percy and Annabeth!

Mind racing a million miles a minute, she began to wonder about a less happy subject- her mother. Would she even notice that her daughter was gone? _Probably not,_ thought Nicky to herself. _It's not like she's even home most nights._

With that happy thought, the blonde strolled up to her house, pulled open the locked door effortlessly, and began packing her clothes into a small bag.

Feet crunching through the autumn leaves, Nicky began the short walk back to Sky's house.

_Funny about fall,_ she thought to herself, _we all talk about how pretty the leaves are, but they're really only like that because they're dying._

Her slightly poetic thoughts were interrupted by the screaming she heard coming from her almost-sister's house.

_This'll be good!_ thought Nicky with a grimace, jumping up to see what was wrong.

**A/N- So this is my first chapter, let me know what you thought, and review!- Hope**


	3. Arrival

**A/N: So, here's chapter three! Just to explain: Hunter is severely autistic. So this is how I imagine I would respond after a major freakout like in this. Occasionally I do freak out this badly, so if I looked up and found I had company… yeah. AWKWARD!**

**-Beth M**

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

It was Hunter.

Sky found him curled up on their bedroom floor, screaming his head off. Jon stood in the corner with his hands over his ears. Sky unslung her iPod and popped it on, then very gently touched Hunter on the shoulder.

He bucked her away.

She touched him again, moving her body so she crouched over his head, the least threatening position. Hunter, more out of muscle memory than anything else, let her pull his hand off one ear and stuff the working earbud in, then clamped down again. As the music pumped in, he calmed down. Sky stood up and moved back, giving him space. Eventually he unfolded and stood up and looked at Sky. She started to shake her head, remembered, and said, "I'm not helping you this time." Hunter shuffled over to his bed, looking nervously at Kaiden and Lou Ellen, but a bit embarrassed too.

Nicky burst up the stairs and yelled, "Okay, what the- Oh. You freaked, didn't you?"

Hunter nodded.

Jon spoke up. "We heard all the noise downstairs. Hunt had his hands over his ears and he was trying, but he ended up freaking."

Kaiden hesitated. "Well- since all of us are here- I guess we should have the talk."

Jon: "Is this the one that Skyler says she'll have with me when I'm thirteen?"

Sky, Nicky, and Lou Ellen busted up.

He shook his head gravely. "No. Well, the reason Lou Ellen and I are here is because all of you- except Hunter- are demigods."

Sky and Nicky fangirled out. Zach stood there with his mouth hanging open. Jon stared. Only Hunter was unfazed.

Sky paused as a sudden thought struck her. "Oh, shit," she breathed. She turned to Kaiden and Lou Ellen and quickly muttered, "I can't leave Hunter. He's severely autistic. With both Jon and me gone- well, I don't know how he'll take it." The kids exchanged glances. "It's okay. He can come too," Lou Ellen reassured. And with that, Sky got down and found everything Hunter would need- namely, his favorite comfort things.

When everyone was packed and everything was ready, but before they left, Sky left a note for her stepfather on the kitchen table. Just three words. _We'll be fine._

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

Lou Ellen whistled. Nicky looked at Sky and mouthed, _Pegasi!_ Sky grinned.

Four came swooping down a little later. "We're going to have to double up," Zach said.

"I'll go with Zach. Jon, you're with Hunter. Make sure he's holding on tight. Nicky, Lou Ellen, you're together, and Kaiden gets one to himself."

Everyone boarded. Sky laughed at that; it sounded like she was talking about an airplane. The pegasi lifted off and got going.

Despite the sun shining, Sky found herself shivering with cold. Hunter sat up and looked around, acting unperturbed, although every so often he would squeeze Jon's waist. Jon himself looked completely at home, more excited than cold.

The pegasi touched down on an open green. Campers in orange shirts milled around, some of them saying hey as Kaiden led the seven of them to the Big House.

Chiron sat in his wheelchair on the deck, watching the kids. Lou Ellen walked up to him and said, "Here they are, and an extra kid. Hope you won't mind Hunter- he's autistic, and his sister, Sky here-" Sky waved. "-wouldn't leave him."

Chiron stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Well, I don't see the harm in him staying. What are your names, children?"

Nicky opened her mouth to answer, but Sky beat her to it. "Skyler, Hunter, and Jonathan Yuen, Nicole Slike, and Zach Willikins."

Chiron started to say something, but was cut off but a glowing eagle over Jon's head. Sky gasped and hugged her little brother. Zach gave him a mock salute; Nicky gave him a raised eyebrow.

The centaur's mouth opened, then closed. Finally he got out, "Hail, Jonathan Yuen, son of Zeus."

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

**So that's it on that chappie! Hopefully Hope (pun unintended) will write chapter five fast. It probably won't go up until Monday, but depending on how long it'll take for her to get her butt in gear, Wednesday at the latest, and it may be even earlier…**

**REVIEW ALREADY DAMMIT! DON'T MAKE ME SIC MUTANT DARKLING PSYCHOKITTY ON YOU!**

**-Beth M**


	4. Too Good to be True

**Disclaimer: We do not own Camp Half-Blood, or any character you recognize in this story. All rights go to Mr. Riordan.**

**-WOA**

"Son of Zeus?" Sky stood speechless, gaping at her brother.

Nicky just shook her head. "That explains so much." Turning to the centaur, she asked, "Does that mean Sky's a daughter of Zeus too?"

Shaking his head, Chiron responded, "Not necessarily. Typically, if two siblings come to camp together, they get claimed together. But it's not unheard of for a mortal to have been with more than one Olympian. Come boy, I'll show you to your cabin."

After Jon was out of sight, Nicky turned towards Lou Ellen, "What the heck was that, and how soon can I get claimed?"

Laughing, the daughter of Hecate responded, "That," she began, "was a claiming, as you probably gathered. And as for when you'll be claimed, well, you're over thirteen, aren't you?" Nicky nodded. "Well, then it shouldn't be long. After all, so far the gods have kept to their oath."

"The oath, "Sky spoke for the first time since her brother had left. "Do you mean the one Percy made with the gods after the Titan War?"

"Yep," Lou Ellen smiled, popping the "p", "that's the one. You guys seem to know quite a bit for having just come here."

Kaiden grinned, "That's what I thought too! But then I realized that they'd read those books that̶-" He paused as he watched a glowing symbol appear over Nicky's head. "Um, hail Nicole Slike!" the satyr shouted awkwardly, "daughter of er-Hermes I guess!"

Around her, a few of the more attentive campers flashed her a grin. "Well," muttered Nicky, "that was rather anticlimactic." An evil grin began to form on her face, "Hey everybody!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, "I'm a daughter of Hermes! Who am I related to here?"

With a laugh, two tall, gangly looking teenage boys strutted over, and pulled her into a hug.

"So, you're our new sister!" proclaimed the one on the left, "Congratulations on being claimed by the best god! Come on, the cabin's over here."

As they led her away towards what Sky presumed was the Hermes cabin, Kaiden put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be claimed soon, don't worry. Come on, I'll show you guys around camp."

"Cool!" Zach proclaimed; Sky was happy to see him acting like the kid he was.

"When can I get a sword, or a knife or, oh I know! I can get an electric one, like Clarisse has, speaking of Clarisse, is she here, and what about Percy and Annabeth and-" Kaiden cut off the eleven year old with a chuckle.

"You'll get a weapon in no time, don't worry about that. And you'll get to meet our campers tonight at the campfire; the ones that are here anyway."

"That's Thalia's tree- isn't it?" inquired Sky curiously.

"Uh huh," nodded Kaiden. "I assume you two know the legend behind that?"

"As long as the books are accurate we do!" said Sky. "They are, aren't they?"

"As accurate as we can make 'em! The muses are rather helpful that way," replied Kaiden, "Although it is slightly problematic when a demigod finds them…"

"Well yeah," Zach stated, "too much information and they're dead."

"Nice subtlety, Zach," Sky rolled her eyes, "I think we all gathered that."

"Just clarifying!" he chanted. "Come on, Kaiden, where are we going next?"

"Let's head down to the cabins," Kaiden decided, "maybe we can get you two claimed!"

After a short walk, Zach was bouncing up and down with excitement, and Sky was ashamed to say that she wasn't much better.

"That's Zeus' cabin!" he cheered, "and Hera and Poseidon and-" Sky cut him off.

"Yes Zach, we know." On the outside she maintained a cool appearance, but on the inside, her mind was reeling.

_This is better than I imagined! _She thought to herself, _and that's saying something!_

"That's where Jon'll be staying," Kaiden pointed towards the first cabin, "And Nicky's cabin is up there!"

"Wow," suddenly paralyzed by the beauty around her, Sky couldn't help but grin. "This is amazing!"

Kaiden grinned back at her, "Wait until you see what else is here!" he exclaimed. "It gets better!"

Zach too couldn't keep the happiness off of his face. "Well come on then!" he cheered. "Hurry it up Sky!"

**A/N: It would be great if you readers reviewed! Did you love it? Hate it? Let us know!**


	5. Capturing the Flag on Election Day

**A/N: Okay, so first of all, I am so, so sorry for not updating. I am still alive, just in case you were wondering. So here's chapter five! It's kind of just a filler, since I'm too lazy…**

**Shout-outs to: Mark Morris's varsity and junior varsity Knowledge Bowl teams, since we won on Wednesday; Kevin Clark, who really, really wanted to be in this; and Christina Buckingham for being the most vocal of the kids at school, except Kevin, for me to update. **

**Oh, and one more shout-out to my boyfriend! HI CORBYN! Yep, your favorite fanfiction writer, who was- or would have been if such an award existed- voted Most Likely to be a Hunter of Artemis in Disguise is now dating someone…**

**OATMEAL COOKIES! **

**This chapter is dedicated to Mikayla Bragg, who was killed in Afghanistan in December 2011. She was Cowlitz County's first war casualty since Vietnam. Happy Veterans' Day, folks! **

**Right. Working. **

**-Beth M**

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

Halfway across the green, Sky saw a boy with black hair and green eyes carrying a sword.

She elbowed Zach. "Is that who I think it is?" she whispered.

"I have no clue. We'll have to get closer."

(A/N: Yeah I know not to do this, but Kevin, here you are and hopefully not OOC!) A boy with curly, dark brown hair fell into step beside them. "You're newbies, right? Just got here?" They nodded. "I'm new, too- just got here two days ago. My name's Kevin Clark. You? Oh, hey, Annabeth!" Sky and Zach waited until he was done waving at a blonde girl before introducing themselves.

After he'd drifted off, Kaiden dropped back to walk next to them. "Kevin's pretty friendly, but most of the campers aren't too sure about him yet- mostly because he's not claimed yet," he explained.

Sky slowed to a stop. "Two days and he's still unclaimed?" she asked, incredulous.

Kaiden nodded. "Hey, Hermes is at archery right now, so you two should get over there. Don't forget, Capture the Flag is tonight!" he shouted after them.

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

Sky flopped on the ground in exhaustion, looking up at Christina, one of the other unclaimed kids in Hermes. "So. We won."

Christina smiled and offered her a hand. "Come on. Let's get to the campfire."

But they were interrupted by a ruckus at the top of Half-Blood Hill. A girl stumbled across the border, half carrying, half dragging a little boy.

She looked up from her place on the ground at Christina and Skyler and asked, "Are they gone?"

Christina looked up and nodded. "Yep. Those monsters are gone now."

She sat up. "I'm Grant. This is Sam."

Kevin, Nathan, Bruce, Austin, and Zach- all the other unclaimed kids at camp- ran up the hill. "Hi," Nate said. "What's your name?"

She looked at him like, _Do I have to say this again?_ "Grant. This is Sam."

"Come on," Bruce said. "Let's get to the campfire. With luck, we'll find out who our parents are."

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

They filed into the arena and sat with the Hermes cabin, but all nine of them- ten, including Hunter- sat together. As usual, Christina said. Of all the unclaimeds, she had been there the longest- four days. Nate and Bruce had three, Kevin had two like he'd said, Austin got there the day before, and of course Sky, Zach, Grant, Sam, and Hunter had all been there less than a day.

Chiron trotted in and opened by announcing, "Some of you have heard already, but even I was surprised at the number of new half-bloods today. Many of you have met Nicky, daughter of Hermes-" Nicky waved. "-but we also gained Jonathan, son of Zeus, and Grant, Zachary, Skyler, and Samuel, all as yet unclaimed, and a mortal named Hunter." There were unhappy murmurs at the mention of Hunter, but Chiron stilled them all. "I know some of you uncertain about the arrival of a mortal boy, but Hunter is severely autistic and I felt it cruel to take his brother and sister and not accept him."

There was an intake of breath all around the arena. The area where the unclaimed kids were sitting looked like a mini fireworks show. On instinct, they spread out so individual symbols could be picked out. Christina's parent was Demeter; Kevin was a son of Hermes. Nathan and Bruce high-fived when they realized they had the same parent- Athena. It turned out Austin was a son of Ares- no surprise there. Grant, the daughter of Erebus. Sam was claimed by Nyx. A hammer blazed over Sky's head.

"The egg incident!" Nicky hooted from two rows behind them. Sky burst out laughing. Zach stood there and asked, "Do you have an inside joke that I don't know?"

Sky looked at him. A harp was visible above his head. "Well, that explains why you always know your test scores in advance."

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

Everyone was about to be dismissed when a kid yelled out, "Can we all stay up tonight?"

Chiron shook his head. Another kid called, "Remember what today is?"

All the kids who'd been gone any time in the last year paused and then laughed when they realized why. Some of the other kids had to think back to the fact that Halloween was a week before, so…

The first kid was quickly seconded by dozens of voices around the campfire. Chiron sighed. "Why?"

Sky yelled loudest.

"Because today's Election Day!"

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

**Quick midchappie A/N: Bet you didn't see that coming, did you? But with the election having been Tuesday, I couldn't resist.**

**A/N over. Now back to the awesomeness. **

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

That night, at 11 o'clock East Coast time- Sky's watch still said eight- the entire camp gathered at the arena, waiting for Annabeth's dad to call with the news.

The minutes ticked past. Finally, at 11:19 p.m., "Just a Dream" rang out into the darkness. Everyone strained forward as Annabeth answered, yelled "WHO'S PRESIDENT?" right into her father's ear, and then said something to one of her siblings.

The message spread around the circle, to be met with mixed reactions. Some cheered; some moaned that the country was doomed. The kids who were old enough proudly announced who they had voted for. According to Kaiden, every day for the past week, Chiron had been dismissing groups of legal-age campers to go into the city and cast their votes.

It was Obama.

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

**A/N: Yeah, so the last part didn't have much to do with the fic, but at least I'm not tormenting Hope with my cliffies. **

**Again, I'm so, **_**so **_**sorry I haven't updated for so long! It's just that with **_**What She Left Behind**_** and school and ****To Kill a Mockingbird**** and The 39 Clues and trying to read my non-39 clues library books and the big Portland November garage sale, I haven't really been able to work… **

**Just to let you know, every one of the unclaimed kids except Kevin and Christina, and of course Sky and Zach, were named after our varsity Knowledge Bowl team. I'll name other characters after the JV kids. But not myself. You all know my name. **

**Song of the chapter: "Change," Taylor Swift. I just think that it's the perfect Heroes of Olympus song! **

**So here's how it breaks down: Kevin Clark, son of Hermes; Christina Buckingham, daughter of Demeter; Grant Avalon, daughter of Erebus; Samuel Fitzgerald, son of Nyx; Austin Brumbaugh, son of Ares; and Nathan Leslie and Bruce Kirkpatrick, sons of Athena. **

**This takes place in November 2012, a full year after the Giant War. It was originally October, but I wanted to include their reactions to the results of Election Day and didn't want to wait. **

**-Beth M**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M OH SO SORRY!**

**I have tried to write this over and over for the past 2 weeks. Nothing.**

**So for better or for worse, here's the next chapter.**

**-wombat-of-awesomeness**

After the minor drama of the election results, things pretty much went back to normal around camp.

Of course, there was the occasional monster, and more new campers showed up every week, but for the most part, everything was strangely, eerily, normal.

That is, until the flaming pegasus came crashing (or as Nicky put it, 'falling with style') into the Hermes cabin. No one was quite sure how this happened, but it certainly was something to talk about.

Thankfully, no one was killed, and the winged horse ended up surviving, but not without first giving our dear friend Nicky a nasty concussion, and a burned-down cabin to boot.

This is the reason why, at three in the morning, Sky was listening to her disoriented friend babble on and on about how funny she thought the French language was.

"I mean," giggled Nicky, "the word for the shower is la douche! Isn't that funny, Sky, isn't it? La douche, la douche, la-" Sky cut her off with an exasperated sigh.

"Yes, Nicky, it's very humorous. Now sit the Hades down and eat some ambrosia," she muttered dangerously, fishing a piece of ambrosia out of her pocket as she spoke.

As a result of the 'flaming-horse-incident,' around thirty Hermes kids now needed a place to stay. Chiron decided that the best way to solve this problem was to divide all of the kids up into various cabins. Hilariously, Nicky ended up in cabin 6- Athena. This was proving to be an issue.

"Everyone has to be up by seven," lectured Annabeth, "and group activities are NOT optional."

"Sure, yeah, whatever," yawned Nicky, "'night."

It came as a surprise to no one when Nicky was dragged out of bed by a burly-looking son of Athena at seven o'clock sharp, and grumbled about it all day.

"Stupid Athena, what do they know?" remarked the daughter of Hermes, perhaps a bit too loud.

Every head in the cabin turned to look at her, eyes blazing dangerously. The Athena campers took their cabin very, _very_ seriously.

Thirty minutes and a black eye later, Nicky finally figured this out.

Meanwhile, in the Hephaestus cabin, Sky was having her own problems. It seemed to her that the cabin's philosophy was '_work, work, work, all the livelong day,'_ and truthfully, Sky wasn't used to that.

As she and Nicky walked to breakfast together the next morning, Nicky shot her a questioning look.

"Well," muttered Sky, "so far life sucks. As usual."

Wincing, the daughter of Hermes responded, "That bad, huh? Well, here's a tip. Don't insult the Athena cabin. _Ever._ They take their mother really, _really_ seriously."

Laughing silently at her friend's black eye, Sky responded, "Yeah, I think I'll keep that in mind."

Nicky wolfed down her food at light speed, glaring over at table six the whole time. Sky on the other hand, picked at her food lazily, her mind obviously elsewhere.

As she lay awake that night, the same thoughts ran through Sky's head again and again. _How could everything change so fast? _It wasn't like she could sleep anyway, at least not without some earplugs. It seemed another inherited trait of the Hephaestus campers was that they snored like lawnmowers.

Burying her head into the nearest pillow, Sky's thoughts turned elsewhere. _What about Jon? Is he doing all right in the Zeus cabin?_

Sighing deeply, the half-blood fell into a restless sleep.

**A/N: So yeah, there you go! It's short, I know, I'm sorry again. Once again, we do not own the idea of Camp Half-Blood, nor any characters you recognize. They all belong to the cliffhanger-loving Mr. Riordan. **

**-Hope**


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